Always a Tribute
by queen tally
Summary: Mitchell South has been doomed to be reaped for years. Her too-proud mother won the games at seventeen, so this year, she has no choice but to be a tribute. But can she survive? Will she be able to leave everything behind?


My heart was pounding. I could hear my quiet, ragged breaths as the mayor gives the mandatory speech. My satin white dress looks like snow in the early morning sunlight, and my lips are a pleasant bubblegum shimmer. I know I must appear calm and above all happy. But I am terrified.

My mother stand just beyond the rope blocking the rest of the town from the 12 - 18 year olds, all of us dead silent. She smiles at me, her teeth as white as the rest of the square of District One. I know if my name is picked, no one will volunteer. My mom payed the families of all the 18 year olds off so I could be a tribute. And she made me take so many tesserae I was giving them to all the kids for weeks. She won her games in my days. She wants me to be just like her.

The mayor has finished and Gladys Cravitz, the creepily surgically implanted woman who picks the name each year, wobbles out to the glass bowls on nine inch heels made of pale pink glass. They must hurt like hell. I nervously pat my complicated braided bun as she sticks her hand into the slips of papers, 72 of which read my name. Mitchell South.

My mom had decided on my name before I'd been born. Granted, she'd hoped for a boy. They have a higher winning rate in the games. But she didn't give me a different one when I was born, so I am Mitchell. TThe district has silenced learned to call me Mitch.

Gladys smiles, her unnatural lips curled in a sickeningly sweet smile. She smooths down the slip and reads in her strange, singsong voice; "Mitchell South!"

Why do I feel so sick? I knew it would happen. I knew it. So why, why? I am the first seventeen year old tribute in six years, since usually there is a volunteer. But today the square is silent. My mother beams her white smile at me and waves. I slowly make my way to the stage, quickly tucking a stray strand of dark brown hair behind the white bow in my hair. Gladys clamps her cold, small hand around my arm and pulls me to the center of the stage.

"Our female tribute: Mitchell South!" she chirps joyfully. "Now for the boys!" She clicks her way across the stage and reaches in the other bowl. I don't care who the male tribute is. I just care about my own survival.

"Our male tribute will be . . . Shiner Blaine!" I glance at whoever he is. He is eighteen; I've seen him in school. He has dark skin and he's huge and muscular. Though he may be strong, he is an idiot. I immediately decide not to join the Careers.

"District One! Let us welcome our brave tributes!" Gladys says, clapping. The crowd roars, and I see the relief on the faces of the kids below. Well, some of them. But not Delanie, my best friend. She locks eyes with me, and I think I see a tear slip from her eye. Then I am being courted away to the Justice Building, and a door shuts. The room is bright and modern with white walls, a shiny silver couch, and a wall made of mirrors.

For a minute, I'm alone. Then the door opens and my mom comes in, her eyes bright. "Mitch! Oh, congratulations honey!" I let her hug me and feel a spark of annoyance. She is not one bit sad at all that I am headed to my death. "You will win, Mitch. I know. And I'll be watching! I love love love you!" she kisses my cheeks, smiling. I offer her a small one. "I love you, too, Mom." I say, and push away my tears. No crying.

She hugs me again, and the door shuts again. I feel lonlier than before, but then Delanie comes, of course, and hugs me. She pulls away, and her face is wet with tears. "Mitch! You can do it, okay?" She sobs again and we sit on the couch. "I'll try. I promise." I say, and pull her into my embrace. She smiles weakly. "I'll watch. And you bet I'll be rooting for you. Every minute of every day!" She pulls away again.

"I don't have much time. But I have something for you . . ." Delanie digs through her small bag and pulls out a silver chain with a small pendant on it. I look closer. It looks like a sideways eight. An infinity symbol. "That's me and you, 'kay? Always. It means always, Mitch." A peacekeeper clears his throat at the open door. I nod and blink off tears. Delanie hugs me again, and she is gone.

I sit in there for a while on the silver couch, picking at a loose thread on my shiny dress. The necklace hangs around my neck. Always.

Always.


End file.
